Panagia Portaitissa – Gold Leaf with Sandblasting – Mount Athos

Description

Gold Leaf with Sandblasting featuring the Panagia Portaitissa

A beautiful icon of the Panagia Portaitissa. The original and miraculous icon of Panagia Portaitissa is located at the Iviron Monastery, and according to tradition, it is the work of the Evangelist Luke. The epithet “Portaitissa” was given because of its location to the left of the central gate. In fact, the icon was revealed miraculously to the fathers of the monastery shortly after its construction was completed.

The monks saw a fiery pillar rising from the depths of the sea and reaching the sky. This miracle continued for days until the voice of the Virgin Mary was heard, asking the abbot to walk into the sea and take her image. Indeed, the abbot took the icon exactly as the Virgin Mary had directed, and since then, its place has been in the Iviron Monastery, where it continues to protect it to this day.

Gold Leaf with Sandblasting: Characteristics

In the icon depicting Panagia Glykofilousa, the iconographer monk used the technique of gold leafing, creating a work of unique beauty. Gold leafing is a type of thermographic technique. Thermography is the method in which a very thin metal foil is applied to surfaces such as wood, leather, cardboard, or plastic by pressing a heated embossed plate (cliché) onto the surface. Around the icon, the technique of sandblasting is also used. Sandblasting is a process where part or all of a surface is eroded by blasting sand under pressure.

Origin: Mount Athos